


A Hero's Lament

by Skullszeyes



Category: The Legend of Zelda
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Another Timeline, Bitterness, Cynical, Depression, Fate, Fate & Destiny, Flash Fic, Loneliness, Mentions of Anxiety, Nightmares, Paranoia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Random & Short, Selectively Mute Link, Social Anxiety, Tired Hero, mentions of Ganon, mentions of zelda - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 18:30:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15249390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: Link rests and eats an apple, lamenting of his time as a hero in a broken Kingdom.





	A Hero's Lament

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a LOZ for sometime, a bit of OOT Link, but a little of BOTW Link. I wanted his bitterness, his lonliness, Link being tired. He does sound like he shouldn't be complaining, but he thought it would be fun, until he realized his fate will never end. Would probably make anyone bitter.
> 
> I have this on my Tumblr as well. :) But I wanted to share it on here too.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

Link wiped away a bead of sweat on his forehead. He trudged through the tall grass toward an apple tree where he picked a few and sat down against the trunk. The elongated branches and leaves covered the sun from view, and the warm wind brushed against his face.

He bit into the apple and stared off at the empty plain of Hyrule. In the tall grass, there were mounds of dead flesh of Ganon’s monstrosities that wander throughout the Kingdom. The blade he had taken off and placed beside him was one of legends. A blade that could kill those things, a simple slice tore through their skin, and their screeches sometimes left him awake at night.

He took another bite, and the warm taste went down his throat, he wiped away a bit that had trailed from his mouth. Then he went still, his heart racing from the exertion, he didn’t think it would end. A part of his mind told him he done this many times over, fighting alone in the field, in ruins, or inside the depths of forests. Always under the sweltering sun, or the cold moon. By himself, he rarely found a place to stay, when he did, he slept quick in soft beds but later find himself on the floor. Other times, he’d be sleeping outside on the ground, the warmth of the fire comforted him, but the darkness was what kept him safe from foes that lurked desperately for unguarded victims.

He talked to people on his travels throughout the broken Kingdom, but talking was hard, he didn’t understand why. His heart hurt too much, and he always felt off balanced. By himself, he was fine. He learned to breathe slowly when he felt this pressure, and because of this, he rarely talked to anyone.

He did like company, it seemed like another world embraced him, but he was always leaving on his own with obligation straining his sense of time.

There were small moments when he wanted to stop. How much he wanted to scream it, to fall to his knees, and finally stop doing what he was doing. He didn’t want this, but it was there, and he could not fight what the Gods had ordained.

His clothes were damp with blood that stunk like rot. He grown to ignore it, but it was there, and he knew he’d have to go to a town and clean them. It has been sometime since he’s done that. Maybe he could even find a lake, someplace secluded without anyone watching him, waiting for him.

Link looked at the back of his hand, a scar etched across slightly toward his wrist, another near his finger, one on his palm. They weren’t deep, but they were there, a reminder. And more under his clothes, a burden of secrets manifested by the rough terrain he explored, and the enemies he found.

A bit of dried blood circled his fingers, and sat under his nails, but besides that, his hand shook. He noticed this awhile ago, he was always shaking, trembling, unsure of what he was supposed to do, and his only comfort was the handle of the blade that yielded from the pedestal when he came to retrieve it.

He stared at the mark on the back of his hand that overlapped the scars and blood. A triangle, a shape of the Kingdom’s symbol sat in the middle of his hand. Some might think it was an initiation into the knighthood, or maybe he was too dedicated to the Kingdom, and of the Royal Family that is now deceased, besides a princess who has not surfaced and reclaimed her throne.

Particularly, a part of the Triforce, the legend of its power bled into his family line, picking heirs to rise as Heroes of whatever tragedy befell the kingdom, and the princess. The evil had surfaced, ruining the world, tainting everything with no care for innocent lives.

It lives and breathes to kill the Hero and the Princess that share a piece of the Triforce, a legend that has not ended since the beginning.

Link gritted his teeth, a part of the Triforce was glowing, while the others were blank, already occupying their preferred hosts.

Courage.

Is that all he is? A Hero that bares the crest of Courage, the power of one of the Goddesses inside of him, blessed to fight evil, and restore the Kingdom to its glory.

Link squeezed his fingers into a tight fist and dropped his hand beside him.

When would it end?

Will it end?

In every era, his soul taken to another, born again to hold the Blade of Evil’s Bane, and slay the demon, and save the princess.

Link bit into his apple.

Destiny? How foolish he once was to think it was nothing more than a reward, but a fate that has cursed him. Maybe after he saved the world, saved the princess and put her on her throne, he’ll go somewhere quiet, away from the loudness of the world, and live out his days until his soul is taken to another.

That is all his destiny leads him to, a fate with no end.


End file.
